I want to know
if you have touched
the center of your own sorrow,
if you have been opened
by life's betrayals
or have become shriveled
and closed
from fear of further pain!

I want to know
if you can sit with pain,
mine or your own,
without moving to hide it
or fade it or fix it.

I want to know
if you can be with JOY,
mine or your own;
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us to be careful,
be realistic,
or to remember the limitations of being a human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you're telling me is true.

I want to know
if you can disappoint another
to be true to yourself;
if you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.

I want to know
if you can be faithful
and therefore be trustworthy.

I want to know
if you can see beauty
even when it is not pretty every day,
and if you can source your life
from ITS presence.

I want to know
if you can live with failure,
yours and mine,
and still stand on the edge of a lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"YES!"